Story, photos by Steve Nash / Special Contributor to BrownwoodNews.com
Since October, the Early Police Department has operated its own dispatch, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.
That means less radio traffic during those hours for the county channel, which had become overloaded with traffic from multiple agencies including Early police.
On nights and weekends, Early officers continue to be dispatched out of the Brownwood/Brown County Law Enforcement Center dispatch center, which is operated by the Brownwood Police Department.
“I think it’s working very well,” Early Police Chief David Mercer said of the Early dispatch..
Explaining the origin, Mercer said, “about two years ago, Sheriff (Vance) Hill came to us and Brownwood to say that the county channel had too much radio (traffic). And at that time, of course, everything went through Brownwood Dispatch.
“And to give you a little history, there’s the Brownwood channel. That’s what Brownwood PD operates on. All fire departments operate on it. And the county channel has been the main channel for the county — for the sheriff’s office, for like patrol any state agency, any other cities other than Brownwood. It has gotten overloaded. We have increased in people.
We’ve increased in the amount of radio traffic.”
That led to the decision to begin operating the Early dispatch.
“Right now, it’s just a daytime shift,” Mercer said. “In the evenings, the officers get back on the county channel, and they all work on it.”
If a citizen in Early calls for police service on 9-1-1, the call initially goes into the dispatch center in the law enforcement center. Once it’s known that the call is for Early police, the call is transferred to the Early dispatch, where the dispatcher begins transmitting via radio to Early officers.
“If they have an emergency, Brownwood Law Enforcement Center will handle the initial part of the call and forward it to us at the same time,” Mercer said. “If it’s our call, they’ll forward it to us at the same time. And we’ll get on the line with them. People who call 911 will still get immediate service.”
Inside the police department, a room labeled “communications” is home to equipment including computers, radios, four large monitors and of course a telephone.
From 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, Tammy Bannister works as the Early dispatcher. From 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., Julie Hopkins takes over as a part-time dispatcher.
Bannister said it’s her “dream job” despite its challenges.
“Dispatching is a job where you have to multitask on all levels,” Bannister said. “It is very busy, very hectic, but very rewarding. I take calls for 911, I take regular calls that are not as big of an emergency, and I dispatch my officers to all the calls.”
Bannister had been working as a principal’s secretary when, at age 52, she decided on a career change. She became an emergency dispatcher at the law enforcement center, fulfilling a desire to “give back.”
When the job as an Early dispatcher opened, Bannister, now 60, applied.
“Chief (Mercer) gave me a wonderful opportunity to come here,” Bannister said.
She said some calls “stick with you — the sounds … we’re the first people to hear what’s going on on that other end of the line, and it’s pretty traumatic.”
Despite being an experienced dispatcher, Bannister feels the nerves when she reports for work. “I say a little prayer before every shift because I just need to get that reassurance from the Man upstairs,” Bannister said. “It’s truly a calling. I really believe that.”
With a business-as-usual tone of voice on a recent morning, Bannister handled several radio transmissions in a few minutes’ span, including dispatching an officer to a school to assist in a medical emergency.
“You got a taste of watching her with multiple things going on,” Mercer said. “Sometimes it’s more than that. These folks that do this — they’re on top of it. “I give a big shout-out to all of them. They’re very good.”
Bannister said, “It’s a hard job and sometimes there are days when you come in and it’s really hard, but it’s so rewarding — so rewarding.